Many who attended the Scotiabank meeting in Beachburg left feeling disappointed. Upwards of 200 people packed into the gym at the Beachburg Public School tonight (Jan. 28th) for a town hall meeting on the closure of the only local bank.
Scotiabank District Vice President for Ottawa West, Mike Brydges, told the crowd the decision to close the bank has already been finalized. Brydges says as of June 4th all customer accounts in Beachburg will automatically move to the Cobden branch. The VP of Scotiabank told all those in attendance they will be opening the Cobden location an additional 7.5 hours a week and keep a full service ATM in Beachburg for customers to deposit cheques and take out money.
Dozens of concerned citizens and members of the Save Our Scotiabank committee asked questions the Scotiabank representative wasn’t able to answer. Brydges couldn’t disclose how much the bank made last year, why they decided to close the branch, or if there was anything the community could have done to save their bank.
Whitewater Region Mayor Michael Moore says the closure of a bank is devastating news to their community adding seniors, local businesses, the tourist industry and economic development will be impacted the most. The Mayor was one of over 50 people who braved the cold weather for an hour and a half at a protest outside the Beachburg Scotiabank before attending the town hall meeting. Some of the signs on display at the protest read “Can’t Bank on Scotiabank” or “$9.4-Billion Not Enough?”.
Scotiabank says it doesn’t have plans on what they’re going to do with the building at this point. Some residents asked if it would be possible to purchase the building on a one or two year option and market it towards other financial institutions. The bank representative says they will get back to residents with some of the unanswered questions.